PhD graduate can't find work

TheChamp

TheChamp

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Cape Town - He is the youngest person to graduate with a PhD in engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
But instead of celebrating, Dr Lukhanyo Mekuto, 28, is frustrated that he has been unable to find a job in the last few months and is sitting at home unemployed.

“I've been looking for a job since February after I submitted my PhD thesis. It frustrates me and it makes me feel at times that I have wasted my time,” he said. Mekuto said that there have been postdoctoral position offers from countries like Turkey and Finland, however he is disappointed that there has been no offers from South Africa.

“I have been applying, though without any success,” he said.

Mekuto, from Brown’s Farm in Philippi, is the only child of a domestic worker and the first one in his family to not only get postgraduate, but also undergraduate degrees. Mekuto graduated as a Doctor of Engineering: Chemical and received a Research Excellence Award for Next Generation Researchers from the National Research Foundation (NRF).

“I feel great and it makes me feel proud to achieve this,” said Mekuto. However his joy is tinged with the knowledge that he is unemployed. Mekuto uses his free time to tutor mathematics and physics to grade 11 and 12 pupils from Philippi on Saturdays.

“I hope to use my PhD as a motivation to those who come from the same environment as mine,” he said.

https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/phd-graduate-cant-find-work-11288060
 
Mayor offers unemployed PhD graduate a job

Cape Town - Dr Lukhanyo Mekuto will be starting his first day at work on Thursday and it’s all thanks to Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille who offered him an internship. On Wednesday, the Cape reported that while Dr Mekuto celebrated his achievement, he's been frustrated by the lack of opportunities after submitting his thesis in February.

“I was moved when I saw the newspaper in the morning on my way to work,” De Lille said.

De Lille said that she was curious to know which areas of study Mekuto was interested in and where she could offer a helping hand. The mayor met Dr Mekuto in her office on Wednesday and offered him a job.
"I think you are in the right place at the right time, you can start with us as an intern tomorrow while we look for available positions for you. You can also job shadow people in the water industry in the City,” De Lille said.

The only child of a domestic worker, Dr Mekuto is the first in his family to get a degree.

https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/mayor-offers-unemployed-phd-graduate-a-job-11293292
 
Wow! Congratulations to the lad! Quite refreshing seeing another young person graduate with a PhD, especially in engineering. Congrats Doc.
 
Great story and I'm glad it worked out for him in the end...
 
The guy did well. But ... why is the mayor offering people jobs, seems wrong.
 
biometrics said:
The guy did well. But ... why is the mayor offering people jobs, seems wrong.
Click to expand...
Seems wrong that nobody else did IMO. Guy has a PhD in Engineering, that's quite and accomplishment especially given his background...
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Seems wrong that nobody else did IMO. Guy has a PhD in Engineering, that's quite and accomplishment especially given his background...
Click to expand...

A lot of our engineering guys go work outside of South Africa, prospects are just better on the other side at the moment.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Seems wrong that nobody else did IMO. Guy has a PhD in Engineering, that's quite and accomplishment especially given his background...
Click to expand...

As I said he has done very well.

Who knows why he hasn't landed a job, maybe there are few open positions in his area, maybe he doesn't do well in interviews. No idea.

But surely the mayor shouldn't be offering people jobs. If an ANC metro mayor did that then there would be complaints, right?
 
I would think twice about hiring someone who goes public about his inability to find a job, yet hasn't updated his LinkedIn profile to indicate that he now has a doctorate under "education" and that he isn't already working (says that he is currently a "postgraduate researcher").
 
Unfortunately engineering like everything else is shrinking thanks to the ANC.
 
biometrics said:
As I said he has done very well.

Who knows why he hasn't landed a job, maybe there are few open positions in his area, maybe he doesn't do well in interviews. No idea.

But surely the mayor shouldn't be offering people jobs. If an ANC metro mayor did that then there would be complaints, right?
Click to expand...

I was talking to a friend in engineering last year who was doing his last year of Btech, the city hired about half of his year for their construction projects. The CoCT seems to be the place to offer the most employment opportunities for engineering in CT for graduates currently.
 
if a Phd graduate relies on looking for a job then education has failed
 
saturnz said:
if a Phd graduate relies on looking for a job then education has failed
Click to expand...

Often the problem is that these guys are over qualified to start right at the bottom (per HR) so they aren't considered for those positions. Unfortunately, their lack of actual work experience prevents them from taking senior positions.
Have heard of this several times with guys who went directly to PhD.
Once they have a couple of years of working experience, a lot more opportunities open up.
 
Messugga said:
Often the problem is that these guys are over qualified to start right at the bottom (per HR) so they aren't considered for those positions. Unfortunately, their lack of actual work experience prevents them from taking senior positions.
Have heard of this several times with guys who went directly to PhD.
Once they have a couple of years of working experience, a lot more opportunities open up.
Click to expand...

this starting-at-the-bottom is irrelevant in my view

After I graduated and was offered my first and only job, I was immediately placed in an executive environment, you do not need work experience to be in a senior environment. After I left that job, I didn't bother with work again.

nevertheless, that misses the point I was making
 
saturnz said:
this starting-at-the-bottom is irrelevant in my view

After I graduated and was offered my first and only job, I was immediately placed in an executive environment, you do not need work experience to be in a senior environment. After I left that job, I didn't bother with work again.

nevertheless, that misses the point I was making
Click to expand...

How do you make money then ?
 
Messugga said:
Often the problem is that these guys are over qualified to start right at the bottom (per HR) so they aren't considered for those positions. Unfortunately, their lack of actual work experience prevents them from taking senior positions.
Have heard of this several times with guys who went directly to PhD.
Once they have a couple of years of working experience, a lot more opportunities open up.
Click to expand...

Exacly this. Know a few people with PhD's that had the same experience.

The problem is, what was this guy doing Monday-Friday? He was only tutoring on Saturdays.
 
I think there's a lot more to the story - firstly, it appears that he doesn't have a PhD, but a DEng. The latter following on from a BTech and MTech. I've always been skeptical of a research qualification following qualifications with intentionally less theoretical content. He doesn't appear to have many publications, and the ones he has are hardly cited. 28 is also not exceptionally young to get a doctorate (27 is fairly typical), which likely means that it is just rare for CPUT to give that degree at all. Not trying to rain on the guys parade - I, like most others, had spades more privilege than he ever did, and it is a great achievement, but he has likely studied himself into something of a hole.
 
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